Maine ranks 37th in the nation in per capita income. Yet Maine’s per-pupil support for education ranks in the top 10 nationally. In short, there is an unsustainable gap between our level of support and our capacity to support it. There are two possible responses:

. Cut the general purpose aid dramatically in order to narrow the gap.

. Create real efficiencies that allow us to maintain our relatively strong support of public education.

Make no mistake about it – we either become more efficient in the way in which we deliver public education or the cuts that will be necessary will affect every classroom in Maine. Maine children and their parents will lose in that scenario!

This is critical for Maine. Our young people will function effectively in the 21st century – the knowledge century where rapid change will be the norm – or they will fail. And if they fail the state’s economy will suffer dramatically. Unless we act smart now, we could be the first generation in which our children and grandchildren have a lesser standard of living than we enjoy. What a legacy!

Today’s kindergarteners must be fully prepared with the knowledge and skills necessary to function effectively if they are to be successful in 2025 when they complete their public education. But that is only the first step – they must be fully prepared for postsecondary education as well. We cannot continue to have students turned away from our community colleges by the thousands, as is the case right now, because of inadequate space. Think of it. We have students seeking to better themselves and we are turning them away. Shame on us! The inadequate space in our community colleges, for example, is directly related to our lack of resources, and we can fix that, partly at least, by being more efficient in the delivery of PK-12 public education!

Surely the proposal by the appropriations subcommittee to save almost $40 million in PK-12 public education through administrative efficiencies is a partial solution to this critical challenge. Going from 290 school districts to a maximum of 80 is a far more rational and efficient way to deliver public education, and we need to do it now. This should not be seen as a radical new departure. We already have more than 20 districts in Maine in the proposed size range. They are districts that encompass a number of towns. The school boards have representatives from the member towns. They feel this is an effective mechanism to maintain local control. The subcommittee proposal merely seeks to replicate throughout the state this established system which works well for Maine kids and local communities in more than 20 districts. The subcommittee proposal is not a radical uprooting of traditional Maine practice – it is just acting smart to serve kids better!

Our choice is simple. Either we create a sustainable structure through administrative reorganization or face inevitable cuts to K-12 classrooms across the state and insufficient support for higher education. The latter two consequences would be catastrophic for Maine kids and for the economic viability of the state in the future.

Please urge your legislators to do what is in the best interest of Maine children and ask them to support the appropriation subcommittee’s recommendations. It is high time to put kids first!

Jim Carignan is chairman of the Maine State Board of Education.